Franchise marketing

Franchise marketing is the promotion of a larger brand, helping drive awareness and revenue to the individual businesses that support the larger franchise. A franchise marketing plan might include brand awareness campaigns and messaging that help unify the larger brand identity of the franchise. Think of your local chain pizza restaurant: While it might have the same name as multiple branches across the area, or even the country, it’s still your local pizzeria.

Franchise marketing is a two-way street, with both the franchisee and the franchisor working to help the overall perception of and loyalty to the brand. A franchisor is the owner of the larger brand, while the franchisee is the person who acquires the rights to use the brand likeness.

Franchise marketing is important because it helps establish an overall brand strategy for a franchise business. Whether through social media, digital marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), or email marketing, franchise marketing helps build brand awareness and ultimately bolsters the profile of local businesses that use the franchised brand.

Operational franchise marketing is franchise marketing that focuses on local businesses and their goings-on more than the larger franchise. Consider a nationwide sandwich chain that offers a deal applicable at all the franchised businesses across the country. In the realm of small-business advertising, it’s about connecting the individual franchise to the larger franchisor. In this case, the franchisor and the franchise owner may work together to help the individual franchise feel like a piece of the larger business.

Brand consistency is especially important in franchise marketing. If you’ve ever been to a fast-food restaurant, customers tend to expect the same experience, no matter the location or the owner of the franchise. The business model and franchise advertising should remain similar.

A key to franchise advertising is establishing a recognizable online presence. As a franchisor, making sure that your brand has effective SEO placement will help marketing efforts. Establishing a marketing plan that has key points addressing social media strategy, SEO, and email marketing will help set a precedent for the small businesses that support the larger franchise.

Ultimately, any franchise marketing strategy is a relationship between the franchisor and the local businesses that make up the franchisees. Still, the two parties should work together to identify audiences and optimize their marketing campaigns to reach those individual groups.

Creating a franchise marketing plan begins with understanding the audience a franchise is trying to reach. From there, the franchisor should work with individual franchisees to expand that marketing campaign in a way that feels relevant and meaningful to local business patrons. Though each marketing plan may look a little different, franchise marketing should follow a similar business model established by the franchisor.

Though franchise marketing can seem overwhelming, an established franchise relies heavily on franchise marketing and the power behind the collective. Some benefits of franchise marketing include: